Reports on the diseases of cattle in the United States made to the Commissioner of Agriculture, with accompanying documents. / Department of Agriculture.

United States Department of Agriculture

Date:: 1869

Credit: Reports on the diseases of cattle in the United States made to the Commissioner of Agriculture, with accompanying documents. / Department of Agriculture. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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$considered sumcieut for practical purposes by many wlio may refer to this report. That form of splenic fever which is mostly latent, and seen among southern cattle, is not recognizable after death by the condition of skin, muscular system, or, in many cases, even by the mucous membrane, with tlio exception of that of the stomach. More or less, however, the blood-extravasations, congestions, and blood-stained urine have been found; but these would very rarely have been noticed but for the plan, suggested by me, of inspecting all slaughtered cattle ?ind carefully weigh- ing the spleens. Dr. Eauch, the medical oflacer of the city^of Chicago, no sooner ascer- tained my wishes than he arranged for the supervision of all slaughter- houses iu Chicago; and for weighing, in the first instance, all the spleens, and, later, all the livers as well as spleens of slaughtered cattle. To Dr. Eauch's energy and care we are, therefore, indebted for facts which none but a medical officer of health, armed with the necessary powers, could well have obtained. Inasmuch as the tables can only serve for purposes of reference, it has been thought proper to publish them in an appendix; but the facts brought to light admit of being readily stated, and it is due to Dr. Eauch that I should quote his report to the board of health of Chicago, read on the 18th of September, in demonstration of the valuable conclusions he was enabled to show very shortly after adopting this method of observation: The weight, feel, and textiu'e of tlie spleen and the condition of the urine have been found to be almost infallible in diagnosing the disease. Since the investigation com- menced over two thousand spleens have been weighed. Dimng the first few days of the investigation the spleens only were weighed, but as your committee began better to comprehend the importance of the questions involved, and the value of the facts to be learned, the livers were also ordered to be examined at tlie same time. Of these about five hundred have already been weighed. The committee have only had time to present the average of the three different kinds of cattle slaughtered here. *, 175 native 175 Texas 175 Cherokee 175 native 175 Texan 175 Cherokee spleens. spleens. (?) spleens. livers. livers. (?) livers. Pounds. Ponnds. Pounds. Pounds. . Pounds. Pounds. 260 441 3S2i 2,227i 2,132i l,8~Si ■ n 2i 9.15 12.45 12, 15 10.45 The above were taken indiacriminately, and do not include any of the marked cases that have fallen under our observation. During the past week spleens have been found in Texa.s and in Cherokee cattle tliat were as much disorganized as any that were found in the native cattle that died from tlie disease. The important part that the spleen perform.s in the economy of cattle will bo better appreciated when it is recollected that its enlargement and disorganization are always present in this disease, while the condi- tion of the otlier organs may be regarded a« concomitant. The liver was at one time snppfjsed to show evidences of enlargement and increase of weight in this disease, but this does by no means necessarily folhtw, as in some of the most marked eases no change whatever in the size of the ]i\ i;r was perceptible. In fact, as a general rule, it has been found that, whenever the animal was in a good condition, the spleen weighed less and$